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Sandakan Wall Climbing Centre

Berhala Island, Bolted climbing in Sabah

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Below is a description of climbing near Kuching, an exciting location with a great future, ripe for new routers and a small but growing local population of Rock-Jocks.

This will be available as a PDF soon for you to download.

Written by MALCOLM JITAM:

The
main climbing area is at the famous Fairy Cave. This area has 8 separate walls
with over eighty climbs here. Recently, local climbers started bolting at
Bantang, in the Serian area. There are about 8 routes here.

Climbing
in Sarawak started in 1997 when Eunice and Malcolm Jitam brought a group of
Australians to bolt climbs at Royal Mulu Resort. The group then went to Kuching
and in the following year bolted Batman wall and started climbing here.

The
Fairy Cave Climbing Areas

Visiting
climbers have commented that the Batman wall is peculiar because of the
overhangs that require a lot of upper body strength while not requiring
precision footwork. The rock formations with its chimneys and pillars are quite
unique too.

This
wall is climbable in any conditions. There is a row of stalactites that keeps
both rain and sun off the wall. The climb starts from the lip of the wall with
a Batman start where one needs to jump to the first clip and begin climbing
from there. For the Batman start, one needs a stick clip or improvise one by
cutting a length of bamboo. Grades at Batman Wall go from 6A to 7C. There are roof climbs under this wall with a
minimum grade 7B.

Batman
Start

You
would also need to do a Batman start to climb ‘Fist of Fairy’ a 3 pitch climb,
beginning from the top of the Fairy Cave stairs. It begins with a 6A+ and has a
6C finish. The reward for this climb is to top out and walk into the gigantic
Fairy Cave where you can walk down.

Other
walls

The
other walls have ground up starts with small crimps requiring more finger work.
The grades vary between 5 to 6C. There are also a few open projects. It is
estimated that these climbs are in the 7B range.

Equipment
list

Climbers
need a 60 meter rope and 12 draws but there are some climbs that require up to
14 draws. In addition to this are shoes, belay device and cow’s tail. A tarp is
needed to keep your rope clean. A towel would come in handy to wipe the sweat
and grime off.

Before
climbing

Climbers
should make a visual survey before sending a route to see the number of quick
draws needed, or if any long draws or extension are needed, and determine the
means of getting down from the climb. Some climbers take mallions with them to
get lowered off in case they are unable to finish the climb.

Protection

All
climbs have glue in (Hilti RE 500) and (Fixe, Petzl or Climb X) hangers on
expansion bolts. Most anchors have stainless steel chains. Some have a single
or double quick link (clip into both quick links at the double anchor) and
other anchors have stainless steel rings where climbers should know how to tie
off to be lowered off these anchors.For
hanger anchors, one needs to tie off and rap down.

Food
and drink

You
will also need plenty of drinking water and some food. At this time of writing,
only drinks are being sold at the Fairy Cave entrance. The closest food and
drink is at Thistle Café about 2 km away but best to pack from home base.Its best to have a change of clothes after
climbing as the locals are offended by dirty bodies and bad odors.

Bouldering

Most
people are too busy climbing that they seldom attempt to boulder at Fairy Cave.
However, the few who try are rewarded by the many problems that litter this
climbing area. Needless to say, the bouldering potential is yet to be
discovered.

Caving

There
is a marked walkway to and though Fairy Cave. A cement and wooden walkway
covers part of the trail that goes through the cave and mountain exiting at the
back of Gunung Kapor (Chalk Mountain). There are several passages that require
specialist knowledge in spelunking and SRT (single rope technique).

Danger

There
is no WMS and climbers need to bring their own First Aid Kit and know how to
use it.

As
in any climbing area, be careful of loose rock.There are insects such as cave centipede and huntsman’s spider and
snakes like the cave racer that one should be mindful of.There is a good government hospital at Bau
and several private clinics in Bau Town. Emergency phone number is 999.

The Fairy Cave Climbing Area

The
(local native) Bidayuh people are ancestral custodians of the Fairy Cave area.
It has been a long and steady process since 1998 where Malcolm & Eunice Jitam
have built a good and steady working relationship with them. Please do not do
anything to ruin this. Courtesy and politeness will go a long way to ensure
that we can all enjoy climbing here.

The
Fairy Cave area comes under the Krokong village committee made up of 17 smaller
villages. They are a caring, progressive and developed society. Most of the
Bidayuh here are Catholics and their parish of 7 villages has worked with local
climbers in carrying out community service at the climbing areas. However, like
any society there are the mindless people who may cause nuisance.

Rock
On is an annual climbing festival held in conjunction with the Bidayuh people
in Krokong.Besides climbing, there are
lots of food, drinks and live music. The next festival will take place 24-26
May 2013.

How To Get Here

There
is a bus service from Kuching to Fairy Cave. The route goes from Kuching bus
terminal at Jalan Masjid (road) to Bau town where you needs to change for bus
No.2 to Krokong. Tell the driver to stop at Fairy Cave. He will stop at the
road junction leading to Fairy Cave. It is 1.5km walk to the climbing area.
There are road signs leading to it.

By
Road. There are two roads that lead to Bau. One past Kota Sentosa and another
through Batu Kawah pastTondong. There
are car and scooter rental companies in Kuching. You can navigate by following
road signs or via GPS. For large groups to 6 to 10 persons, it’s best to hire a
chartered van. It will cost about MYR 100 per way or MYR 270 for a full days’
charter.

Road
signs are deceiving! Fairy Cave is also known as Gua Pari-Pari (in Bahasa
Malaysia), so look out for Bau and the two names on road signs.

Accommodation And Food

Homestays are available at
Peros village 5km away from the climbing area. Most hosts speak English and can
help with transportation to and from the crag areas. It
cost MYR 65 per person and this includes breakfast and dinner. Bookings must
be done at least a day earlier by calling 082 450378 or email: asend@gmail.com .

Food
is available at Thistle, a local café about 2 km from the crag and also in Bau,
where one can find simple local dishes. Better restaurants can be found in Bau
town (6km away).

Monday, January 21, 2013

Friday 1st Feb is the date to put in your diary, dust off your spandex, test your grip because climbing is coming to Sandakan!
There will be competitions to inspire you, Demonstrations to amuse you, races to excite you and politicians to bore you.
Get yourselves down to the Sports Complex to meet our team and be one of the first to register, get a coveted early membership number that you can show off to your grandkids (SICC has over 5,000 members!).
There will be regular trips to Berhala Island, a pro shop and regular competitions, clubs and classes.
Be there or forever wonder why you missed it!